Tuesday, August 14, 2007

From Oreo brownies to fluffernutters... our last night in Maryland!

I had a haul of chocolate in the pantry last week that I needed to get used as most of our things will be packed away in storage until we find our new house out in Minneapolis. I was going to choose a new recipe, but then I remembered that we wanted to bring our Realtors a treat to thank them for all the hard work they have done. It took me less than a second to decide to get a batch of the Outrageous Oreo Crunch Brownies in the oven - one of our most favorite and requested recipes.

I have posted about them twice already on the blog, but I have made them countless times for several events. It sure made a dent in our pantry - a pound of butter, over a pound of chocolate and a full package of Oreos... incredibly rich, fudgy and over the top yes, but oh so worth every. single. calorie. Here are the chocolates and butter all melted... it took all of my self-control to leave the mixture alone and not take quality-control samples!

Chocolate and Melted Butter pictureThis time we did not use those orange Oreos since it is not quite Halloween yet (even though all of the grocery stores are strewn with Halloween candy and decorations...), so we just went with the good ol' classic kind. Okay, maybe the entire package didn't make it into the brownies - a couple of them quelled the rumbling I had in my stomach while we were taking pictures!

Stack of OreosHere's a snap of the finished brownie - I love how clean these brownies cut! You can halve the recipe if you want, but I always make a full batch and keep the extras in the freezer. They hold well and make for a quick dessert when unexpected company arrives!

Outrageous Oreo Brownie pictureSo, early this morning the movers arrived and now all of our thing are packed and loaded on the large semi.

We're sitting here tonight in a totally empty house except for our laptops, a small TV and a few things we kept aside that will come with us as we start the long drive tomorrow. We already finished all of the leftovers, so what did we do for dinner tonight? Rather than trying to find someplace to eat out, we decided to just have one of our favorite comfort foods - fluffernutters! Just a couple slices of soft whole-grain bread slathered with homemade peanut butter and of course, a few spoonfuls of sticky Marshmallow Fluff.

Fluffernutter Sandwich PictureThey do have Marshmallow "creme" out in the Midwest, but they don't sell this out there (not that I remember at least), so we did make sure to buy a few tubs to take along with us!

Marshmallow Fluff PictureWe had lots of fun out here, but we are looking forward to our next adventure in coming back home to Minneapolis! Lots of great memories here - especially doing our first total kitchen renovation! Figures, we get it just the way we've always wanted and now we are leaving it behind! We did make sure to run outside and say goodbye to our Alpaca friends next door - we fed them a few handfuls of grass... Jeff tried to get the movers to sneak one inside the truck, but they didn't think that was such a good idea!

Oh well... We may miss a couple days of posting as we will be driving, but we'll post updates as we can!

Minneapolis, I hope you are well-stocked with butter and chocolate because here we come!

25 comments:

  1. Been looking around your blog for a couple of minutes, and I'm starving (especially from those oreo brownies...) Thanks for sharing,
    Joe
    http://ticklecookbreathe.blogspot.com/

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  2. Good luck on the cross country drive!

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  3. You have inspired me to bake these brownies! I think I'm going to bake them for my sister's b-day, and have brownie sundaes.
    Good luck and stay safe on your trip!

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  4. Joe & Jeff
    Love your blog and wish you a great trip and an easy transition to MN. I found you quite awhile ago as I visit Frederick MD often for antiquing(my brother lives in Balti). I am sure I met your furry Alpaca neighbors at my trip to the Maryland Sheep & Wool festival.
    Keep the wonderful posts and recipes coming.
    I bet you cannot wait to have your four footed friends with you again...but, how nice they have grandparents to visit!
    Thank you!
    Marcia

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  5. Best of luck with the move, Joe! Have a safe trip!
    You did so much work on the MD house, it's a shame you had to move so soon.
    Val

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  6. Happy Trails! Too funny about the fluffernutters......... :D

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  7. Have a safe trip to the Gopher State, and Welcome!!! I made the move from Boston about 2 1/2 years ago - still having some culture shock, but overall, it's been great.

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  8. Thanks for the recipe. Good luck with the move. I just moved from Nova Scotia to British Columbia and drove my Minneapolis. I was thinking of you. We stayed one night. I found that it was a pretty town. I could live there. Keep posting.

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  9. Brilliant post, thank you Joe!

    You are such an incredible writer and food-tographer, I just love stopping by! Those brownies are going to be the first thing i bake when we return from vacation.

    Best of luck on your move to the midwest. It's not that bad, I grew up there and came out just fine (or so I think!).

    Please keep us posted on all of your adventures along the way.

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  10. Have a safe trip you too and look forward to your return.

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  11. Good luck with the move! I wonder if you'll end up with minneapolis inspired recipes?!!

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  12. Have a safe drive! And we do have that kind of marshmallow fluff, I just saw it in a grocery store in St. Cloud (an hour north of Minneapolis). Hopefully you can find it where you are.

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  13. Good luck with your move! It can be a pain, but I'm sure it will be for the best.
    I hope you'll have time to post recipes once you get settled in. This is my favorite cooking blog; you make a lot of recipes that I have made, with success, for my family.

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  14. I hope your move goes smoothly Joe. What I want to know is how you had time to cook at all when you were packing and getting ready to start your new adventure in life??? I just moved in May and we had pizza a lot.

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  15. Have a safe trip!!! And those look like major killer brownies!!!! I will have to try them out on my friends here in the UK. Oh I love Fluffernutters!!!! Haven't had one for years though!!! Brings back memories of childhood. Thanks!!!

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  16. Have a great trek to MN!

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  17. Bon voyage, you guys. Best of luck in MN. Hot dish, anyone?

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  18. Just browsing the internet, your blog is very, very interesting.

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  19. Have a safe trip guys! Congrats on the move. =)

    xoxo

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  20. Have a safe and happy trip guys! I will have to try out your Oreo brownies - they looks amazing!

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  21. Thank you everyone for the support - as you can see the trip went well! We spent a few hours looking at houses today and will do so again throughout the weekend! This is the fun part!

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  22. Alisha - I love fluff as you can see!

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